Today we’re excited to introduce Universe Software, a long-term partner for ambitious operators building in a product category we call Vertical Fintech.
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We are in the midst of a fundamental transformation in how small businesses access the financial tools that power their operations. Trusted software products are becoming Financial Hubs, distributing a wide range of critical financial services to their customers. At Universe, we acquire exceptional software companies in enduring, vertical markets and transform them into these Financial Hubs, powered by our shared infrastructure.
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We are also pleased to announce that we have raised $18m in seed funding from Bedrock Capital, Not Boring Capital, Zach Perret and an impressive group of fintech founders & operators – all of whom share our passion for the thesis we are pursuing.

Trusted Software is the new Financial Hub

In the 20th century, the path to procuring financial services to operate your small business was a trip or call to your local bank branch. You would likely be offered a one-size-fits-all product and the burden of integrating the service into your workflow would fall to you.
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In the 21st century, a meaningfully better alternative has emerged for many small businesses: you can simply log into the software you use everyday. You’ll find that you’re offered financial products purpose-built for you, pre-integrated into your business workflow.
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Trusted software products are rapidly becoming the modern bank branch, or Financial Hub, for a growing portion of America’s small businesses. These software products that serve as Financial Hubs for their customers are creating a new category: Vertical Fintech.
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Over the last decade, Vertical Fintechs have emerged across a diverse set of industries, including Restaurants (Toast, DoorDash), Fitness (Mindbody), HVAC (ServiceTitan), Travel (Peek), Logistics (RoadSync, Cloudtrucks), Film (Wrapbook), Salons & Barbershops (Squire, Vagaro), and so many more. While many have led with payment processing products, new APIs like Unit (Banking), Lithic (Card Issuance), Clair (Lending), Check (Payroll) and others are making the distribution of a wider range of financial services easier than ever before.
This transformation in the distribution of financial services is only beginning.

Who we are

In the 20th century, the path to procuring financial services to operate your small business was a trip or call to your local bank branch. You would likely be offered a one-size-fits-all product and the burden of integrating the service into your workflow would fall to you.
‍
In the 21st century, a meaningfully better alternative has emerged for many small businesses: you can simply log into the software you use everyday. You’ll find that you’re offered financial products purpose-built for you, pre-integrated into your business workflow.
‍
Trusted software products are rapidly becoming the modern bank branch, or Financial Hub, for a growing portion of America’s small businesses. These software products that serve as Financial Hubs for their customers are creating a new category: Vertical Fintech.

What we do at Universe

Universe is a holding company of Vertical Fintech businesses.
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While we are excited about the broad shift in how financial services are distributed, we recognize that earlier-stage software businesses often cannot participate – due to high upfront fixed costs, the complexity of managing fraud & regulation, and the simple fact that the economics of embedding financial services can be uninspiring without economies of scale.
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Through acquisition, Universe provides an on-ramp to this transformation for emerging businesses. Acquired businesses gain access to our internal platform, Gravity, which provides dramatic advantages in their pursuit of Vertical Fintech scale. Gravity significantly reduces the upfront cost of launching financial products, provides immediate economics of scale, and eliminates the burden of managing fraud, risk and regulation.
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Importantly, we do not take over day-to-day management of businesses we acquire. Rather, we partner with talented management teams – typically the founders and/or operators in place at the time of acquisition – and provide guidance as appropriate. Operators who are excited at the prospect of going further, together and who are willing to embrace new ideas tend to thrive working with Universe.

What the future holds

We have acquired two exciting businesses to date:

• Appointfix: all-in-one business management for solopreneurs
• Equilab: world’s largest training community for equestrians

Yet we’re still early to building out the Universe of Vertical Fintech. We expect to acquire many more exceptional businesses over the coming years.
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To that end, we are always open to hearing from promising software businesses. If you have an emerging product in an enduring market and you are interested in working with us – or learning more – please reach out. We’d love to meet you.